A group of researchers from Duke University Medical Center, Monell Chemical Senses Center and three Norwegian institutions have published the results of a study which they believe may shows a genetic predisposition to having a particular fondness for cooked meats.

In the experiment they conducted, a group of people with varying levels of a certain odor receptor gene were asked to smell and taste a few bites of pork, which they were then asked to rate. What they were looking for was the level of sensitivity to a testosterone-like steroid called androstenone, which is found in the salive of boars.

Based on self report, those with a specific variation of the gene insensitive to androstenone preferred the taste and smell of the pork samples significantly more so than those respondents with a more sensitive variation of that same gene. They found the meat disgusting.

In other words, your proclivity for fried pork-skins may very well have been inherited from your boar-hunting Scandinavian ancestors. [FoodBeast - Image via Olinchuk/Shutterstock]